Month: January 2018

Sevilla fans protested outside the club’s stadium on Sunday following on from their derby defeat at home to Real Betis.
Los Rojiblancos were sunk 5-3 by their city rivals in a damaging defeat on Vincenzo Montella’s La Liga managerial debut, but the protests were aimed at the club’s board.
Sevilla’s president Jose Castro was the main target of the protests, which took place ahead of Sevilla Atletico’s home clash with Lorca on Sunday morning.
Castro’s salary and club structure was criticised, while there is also growing discontent with sporting director Oscar Arias and the transfers and salaries he has sanctioned.
Sevilla currently lie 5th in La Liga and remain in both the Champions League and Copa Del Rey, but performances and results have both come in for criticism this campaign.

Roma are reportedly in talks with Benfica over Bruno Peres, who could leave on loan with obligation to buy.
The Brazilian has struggled to hold down a place in the side under Eusebio Di Francesco, making 10 Serie A appearances so far this season.
According to Il Tempo, sporting director Monchi has met with Peres’ agent as well as an Italian intermediary about a sale.
The most likely destination would be Benfica, but the Giallorossi want at least €10m to sell the full-back.
That means the most likely solution would be an initial loan deal, but with an obligation to buy for a fee close to that in the summer.

Championship leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers turned down the chance to sign Aleksandar Mitrovic from Newcastle United but West Brom need him.

Two clubs in the Midlands have considered making a move for Newcastle United’s out-of-favour striker Aleksandar Mitrovic. But while it might not exactly look good on paper, should West Brom go ahead and sign a player that their local rivals Wolves turned their noses up at?
According to The Chronicle, Championship league leaders Wolves were thinking about offering Mitrovic an escape route out of his Newcastle nightmare with Rafa Benitez keen to cash in on the Serbian striker.
But the report adds that Nuno Espirito Santo’s runaway promotion favourites have now turned their attention to alternative targets.

This, then, should give West Brom an opportunity. As reported by the Mirror, Newcastle are looking for £12 million for Mitrovic, who has made just six substitute appearances in the Premier League this season amounting to just 89 minutes of action.
And the former Anderlecht striker admitted to Serbian publication Zurnal that he has ran out of patience on Tyneside – giving a boost to a West Brom team who are keen to offer him a Premier League lifeline, so say The Mail.

The Baggies are the second lowest scorers in the top flight this season with just 16 to their name and, as a result, are only off the bottom of the table on goal difference after failing to win in their last 20 league games.
Mitrovic showed back in his debut Newcastle season in 2015/16 that he can score goals in England’s top flight while his aggressive aerial prowess and penalty box presence could give West Brom a potent attacking weapon that Salomon Rondon and Hal Robson-Kanu simply have not become.

According to reports from Sky Sports, Liverpool’s Emre Can has chosen Juventus to be his next club.

With the German international’s contract set to expire this summer, Juventus will be eager to lock him down to a pre-contract agreement before the end of the current season. Getting a midfielder of his caliber on a free transfer is a major coup for the Bianconeri.

Representatives for the player met with ones from the club late into the night on Thursday. The discussions seem to have yielded a positive result as Juve hopes that official confirmation of the future transfer will come as soon as Friday morning.

Emre Can seems determined to wear the famed Bianconeri shirt, even though Liverpool will not agree to sell him in January. The arrival of Can, therefore, is scheduled for June when the player will be free to leave Anfield Road on a free transfer, saving Juventus millions in transfer fees.

Inter coach Luciano Spalletti claims he is not concerned about losing key players during the transfer window.
The Nerazzurri enjoyed a strong first half of 2017-18, although a run of four league matches without a win in December saw them enter the mid-season break third in Serie A, seven points behind leaders Napoli.
Captain and star striker Mauro Icardi has been linked with a move away from San Siro, while midfielder Joao Mario, who has found himself out of the starting XI under Spalletti, is potentially set to leave.
Manchester United could also choose to renew their rumoured interest in forward Ivan Perisic.

Questioned by Premium Sport on possible departures, the coach said: “We’ll act in perfect harmony with what the needs of Inter are. The players under contract here are our players.
“The Chinese ownership has the results of the team at the heart of things, they’re bringing consistency to the history of Inter because they have the expertise and the will to contribute to improving everything at the club.”

Financial constraints may prevent Inter from reinforcing significantly without selling first, and Spalletti is not counting on new players being made available to him.
“I’m certainly not waiting for anything from the transfer market,” he said.
“The team and club are strong and those who are responsible for our campaign in the market will know how to benefit from any possible opportunities to improve our squad. Numerically, if someone then comes in to fill up the squad it’s even better still.”
Having thrashed Chievo 5-0 on December 3, Inter then scored just once in a 3-1 loss at home to Udinese, as they also suffered a 1-0 defeat at Sassuolo and were held to 0-0 draws by Juventus and Lazio.
Spalletti, though, rejected concerns about his team’s misfiring attack.
“We have a specialist in Mauro Icardi… I don’t believe that it’s a big problem,” he said.
Inter remain on track to challenge for Champions League qualification, a tournament they have not appeared in since 2011-12.
Nevertheless, Spalletti is adamant there is more to come from the team in the second half of the campaign.
“I’m not happy with my work because you always need to aim for better,” he said.
“We need to all work in a way which is worthy of Inter, this is what makes the difference. We’ve done very well so far, we’ve picked up a lot of points but I don’t think that we’ve still shown the very best of what we can do.”

Read more at https://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/spalletti-doesnt-fear-losing-inter-stars#0cyEDzRSvweQy5tS.99